An Early Childhood Development Centre has officially been opened in Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara- Berbice).
One of several opened in various regions across the country, the centre is an initiative of the Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA). The doors of the centre were officially opened on Monday to facilitate its first intake, though it had been commissioned some time ago.
This facility has the capacity to cater for 45 children aged between three months and six years, but it currently has a little more than 20 children already registered.
The centre’s opening was attended by numerous officials, including the Region 10 District Education Officer (Nursery) Yolanda Menthis, who explained that the facility aims to provide cheap, affordable educational services for working parents and their children.
“The centre is a Government initiative to provide cheap, affordable daycare services for young people in the area, so that they can go back to work and have their children in a comfortable environment… Today, the first day, we had children actually coming in to start the daycare services,” she noted.
Menthis added that the centre, which is equipped with seven childcare providers and a supervisor, has a structured timetable which caters for children to learn basic educational skills. She said the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) and Department of Education would also provide supervisory services from time to time. She encouraged those who have already registered their children to have them attend the center.
Executive Officer for Early Childhood Development at the CCPA, Lavern Thorne, who was also present, noted that the centre will provide opportunity for parents to seek employment.
She said caregivers have a mandate to ensure that children are well taken care of, and she noted that activities will be engaged in to foster the children’s development.
“Everything that is going to be done has to be done through play, because play is the medium through which students learn at this age. The supervisors will have to ensure that everything that is being done relates to their development and the services that are going to be offered here are of high quality…
“We would have put together a training module to give them the basic training that they would need in order to care for these children. We have caregivers who are presently at the University of Guyana pursuing the Early Childhood programme that is being offered there. So, we’re hoping that all the caregivers that are here will access that programme, and they all will be trained and qualified to care for children,” she added.
The centre will be opened from 07:00h to 17:00h daily. It was built by the Basic Needs Trust Fund, in collaboration with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).
